OFF THE WIRE
By TOM HAYS
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Mobster Salvatore Vitale had a hand in at least 11 murders, including that of a fellow gangster in the fallout from the infamous Donnie Brasco case.
But he was spared a life term Friday, sentenced instead to time served after federal prosecutors said the admitted killer deserved a break for delivering a crippling blow to his brethren.
The evidence against the Bonanno organized crime family provided by the 63-year-old turncoat since his arrest in 2003 "has been devastating to the very Mafia to which he once swore allegiance, and particularly to the Bonanno family," prosecutors wrote in court papers.
Vitale admitted to 11 killings between 1976 and 1999. He pleaded guilty in April 2003 to racketeering conspiracy and murder-in-aid of racketeering, and has served nearly eight years behind bars.
At his sentencing, Vitale apologized to the families of his victims.
"I committed some really horrible crimes I'll always be ashamed of, and I pray for forgiveness," he said.
According to the government memo, Vitale has identified more than 500 mobsters and their associates across the United States and elsewhere. His cooperation, including testimony at six trials, has led to convictions of four Bonanno bosses — one a close friend and brother-in-law — and dozens of lower-ranking family members.
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.The memo says Vitale provided information on more than 30 gangland slayings. In three instances, the information helped investigators locate "the remains of at least three Mafia victims buried long ago."
The son of a Brooklyn dishwasher and baker, Vitale began his life of crime in the late 1960s after a stint in the Army. Over the next three decades, he was involved in a full menu of mayhem: murder, arson, extortion and hijacking.
He was rising through the Bonanno ranks when FBI agent Joe Pistone went undercover to infiltrate the group from 1976 to 1981, using the name "Donnie Brasco" — the basis of the Al Pacino-Johnny Depp movie. Once the family learned about the infiltration in 1981, Vitale and others were ordered to shoot and kill the family member who had sponsored the agent.
Vitale observed the oath of omerta — silence — until seven years ago, when he decided to plead guilty and cooperate. His lawyers say the decision put a target on his back.
